


Who's your Daddy

by Opinion8ted



Category: Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: Complicated Relationships, Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Incest, Introspection, Not Canon Compliant, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-09-19 02:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20323915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opinion8ted/pseuds/Opinion8ted
Summary: What if Jake Kane really had been her father?Series of unrelated one-shots about Lily and Veronica's friendship and what life would have been like if Veronica had been Jake Kane's daughter





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one is just a random collection of thoughts, heavily introspective and Veronica centric. Hope you enjoy.

Finding out that Jake Kane was her father was like finding out the scorned wife killed her adulterant husband in a murder mystery. It made sense, fit neatly with her cynical view of the world; and yet somehow still burned the part of her that left out cookies for Santa long after she became suspicious of his realness. 

When Duncan had broken up with her it had been wrenching. There had been no single point, no moment of ah yes, cue melt down. The lack of actual ending had meant that her first break had start with loneliness, built into panic and never hit any sort of climax. A story with no end

Even when Lily had 'let her down gently,' the most definitive break-up in her entire break-up experience the situation hadn't felt real. Duncan an her had been together long enough that they could go days without seeing each other but still be equally as committed by the end of the week. Some part of her was still waiting for the end of the week. 

She supposes this is the end, the real end. She thinks unwitting incest is probably forgivable, hopes that at least on some level this isn’t the only thing anyone will ever remember about her. However, from this moment on Duncan is well and truly off-limits.

When her mother had left, it was like the well-polished marble of her life had splintered. Her metaphorical white-picket fence had burnt down. It wasn't a huge deal, lots of people had single parents, everybody has that thing that makes them clam up at parties, and then she did too. 

She's never been able to 'leave well enough alone.' Always the kind of person who picks at scabs until they bleed. So when her mother left she pushed and pushed until suddenly the marble was shattering beneath her feet. She guesses the ugliness of her life now was what she deserved.

When the paternity test had come back, she'd dialed Lily's number before she could form a coherent thought. It wasn't until she'd heard the "hey Vee," that she had the presence of mind to at least think before she made the kind of life altering decision she was thinking about.

Lily was probably the one good thing to come from all this mess. Jake Kane was not what Veronica would consider and upgrade when it came to the father department and the Duncan of it all will forever be complicated. Veronica has never been one for enemies, well, was never one for enemies, and Celeste Kane had firmly communicated her position as enemy. 

There's always the money of it all, but Veronica has met enough 09ers to not automatically count that in the good category. She doesn't even know if she's entitled to it, or if she wants it; just that it's there in some capacity. 

The paternity test came back when her mother was still out of the house. It's so easy for her to hide the letter, pretend it never existed. She slipped it away into her draw and tried to let it slip from her mind. 

There was enough going at school for her to let it slide. She had been beginning to suspect that Lilly was trying to hide something from her, she seemed to be busier than usual, less interested in going out, less interested in Logan, less interested in her.

She was still the Lily Veronica had known and loved, she was just, distant. Sometimes when they were changing in the locker rooms she'd see flecks of purple on her hips and wonder. She doesn't worry too much, she doesn't think that Lily would ever do anything she didn't want to, it's just something about Logan makes her question his ability to be anything but gentle with Lily. 

That's probably the naïve part of her, that believes fiercely in the goodness of others. That was fiercely disbelieving of her mother's infidelity.

Her mother had cried, when she'd told her the truth of her father. Veronica hadn't known what to do with her tears. "I don't know," She'd said and hope had bloomed in her chest, hope that had turned acrid when she'd opened the letter. 

That letter. The letter that had hidden in her draw untouched for weeks. 

She discovers Lily's secret. Her Dad (if the letter remains unread by the masses he's still her Dad) is a PI, she was bound to pick up some sleuthing skills. She doesn't know why Lily didn't just tell her. Well, she does, the amalgamation of disappointment and distress that wells up in her when she finds Weevil going down on Lily probably has something to do with it.

God, she never thought Lily would be like that. Then again, she didn't think her mother would be like that either. She supposes she's screwed on both sides of the family. 

She hadn't said anything, When she'd found them. Had stared slack jawed as Lily sat on her dresser with her eyes closed and head pressed against the wall with Weevil in-between her legs. It had taken her a second to connect the dark tattooed skin with the leader of the biker gang. 

She only knew his name because he liked to threaten and pester her whenever her Dad caught him red handed. She'd never been afraid of him though, not the way she was of some of the PCHers. Hell, he wasn't even as scary as some of the 09ers who she regularly saw in states of lowered inhibition. 

Weevil's threats had always felt perfunctory. Said in his low no-nonsense way. It wasn't that she didn't believe him, when he said he'd break her if she crossed her, it was more that she believe he would only break her if she crossed him. He lacked the kind of sadism and black out anger that some of the other boys in her life had. 

So when he found her between Lily's legs she was shocked, disapointed and distressed, but she wasn't horrified and she wasn't afraid. She had swallowed the judgment that had built in her throat and left the room. 

She always felt like she was entering minefield when she went to the Kane house. Between Celeste and Duncan's disgust and the prospect of running into Jake and having to address the secret that now ties them together, has her walking on eggshells every times she enters the house. 

So she had quietly slipped out of Lily's room and bolted for her car. Every footstep or sign of life spurring her ever faster.  
She'd sat in her car outside their house for longer than she should have. It had felt like hours but had probably only been minuets. When she'd saw the shiny car of Jake Kane pull up the driveway she'd been half way home in an instant. 

That night she'd had two secrets weighing on her chest. This new secret seemed to pale in comparison to the one that that had been looming over her in the past few weeks. Who cares? She's thought bracingly. It's just some highschool? Then Logan's wide eyes came to mind and regret had settled into her body. Logan would care.

The thought had haunted her all through-out the following week. 

She wondered if Duncan knew. She figured that's why he broke up with her, it would explain the vaguely disgusted look he gets every time he sees her and greatly improve her self-esteem. Sometimes when he looks at her she's certain that he not only knows her secret, but knows that she knows to. The paranoid part of her thinks her disgust is written on her face just as transparently as his. Of course the rational part of her knows that he would actually have to look at her face for that to matter.

She wonders if Lily knows, it would explain why she had so easily given up on the relationship, why her crowing and teasing had been suspiciously absent. Veronica doesn't think so; Lily has never had the patience for anything, especially when it comes to scandals involving her family, Veronica thinks the media would have been alerted long ago if Lily knew. She hopes that Lily would have trusted her enough to tell her. After all, if it weren't for Celeste, and the disgrace of being a secret love child, Lily would've been Veronica's first call. She will be Veronica's first call, if she ever decides to make one. 

She wonders if she could let this secret just evaporate. Just ignore it and ignore it until she's miles and miles away from Neptune and anybody that would care. Would she have to give up Lily? Her oldest friend? Would she even be capable? Would the itch to spill all her secrets dull, or mature into something unbearable?


	2. Gold Digger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica asks the Kane's to pay for her mother's Rehab

"She's sick, you have to help. She _needs_ help." She didn't know why she expected any different. Maybe because hearing the stories of her parents had made them sound more in love than her and Duncan or even Lily and Logan. Maybe because she didn't need to love somebody to want them healthy and she had imposed her marshmallow view of the world on these people.

"Veronica,' it had been first conversation she's had with this man after the knowledge he might be her father and he's already got the fatherly disappointment down to an art, 'we can't just give you money, can you imagine how it would look," Read; stop asking me for money you gold-digging bitch.

Stung, Veronica had left to a backdrop of her name being called with the same soft disappointment as before.

She payed for her mother's rehab with her own money. She payed knowing that for her the money meant her entire future whereas for the Kane's it would've been they're sixth car.

With her mother in rehab and the Kane's thoroughly unsympathetic, it's now more than ever that she want to be in Stanford, and now more than ever that she's firmly aware she can't.

She could've sued them, milked them for all they're worth, but she doesn't think it would've been worth it. She knows what they would say about her mother, alcoholic, cheating gold digger, probably accuse Veronica of the same thing. Her Dad would probably lose his position as sheriff. The kicker is, she can't decide whether Lily would be inappropriately delighted or never talk to her again. 

When she got home that night her Dad had made dinner and was smiling and chatting and wondering where her mother was. It was this, more than anything that solidified her position to remain quiet.

This is her home, this is her family


	3. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By the time she'd hit 13 she'd started to notice how her friendship circle was limited to one or two friends per year and how the other girls had new pencil cases every year and pretty pencils for art class and how they sneered at the end of the year when all she had left was a half chewed grey-lid.
> 
> She probably would've developed her bitterness much faster if she hadn't met Lily that year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Veronica and Lily becoming friends

Veronica used to be shy. The abrasive, take no prisoners attitude she later adopts might make it hard to believe, but those who remember little Veronica remember quavering lips, a ducked head and a voice rarely used.

Not only was she shy, but she was often wrapped up in her own world, mind constantly working.

When she was very young it didn't matter as much. There wasn't anything to be particularly self conscious about, but as she got older she would learn that quiet meant ignored and that sometimes small meant stepped on.

The first time she really felt it was in Primary school, when noticed she was paired more with the teacher than the other kids. Incidentally, the reason she notices this is because those same kids pointed it out loudly and obnoxiously and Veronica didn't care, not much at least, but she felt it.

By the time she'd hit 13 she'd started to notice how her friendship circle was limited to one or two friends per year and how the other girls had new pencil cases every year and pretty pencils for art class and how they sneered at the end of the year when all she had left was a half chewed grey-lid.

She probably would've developed her bitterness much faster if she hadn't met Lily that year.

\--

When Lily first sits next to her, Veronica sighs, figuring she's about to be forced to move. She's more than a little surprised when Lily launches into a rant about stupid, frustrating boys and doesn't let up for 15 minutes straight.   


She doesn't manage to follow the whole thing but when Lily ends her rant with "ugh, boys are the worst right?" all she needs from Veronica is a nod.

In the silence that follows Lily looks her up and down with an inscrutable expression on her face.

"You're cute, why haven't I seen you around before?"

"I'm not in you're grade."

  
"Well duh, but I feel like I must know someone in your year. How old are you again?"

'Thirteen."

"Ah, you must know Donut, dear sweet Donut, doesn't ring a bell? Think awful buzzcut, complete goodey-two-shoes and cries when people kill bugs."

"You mean Duncan?"

"That's the one, I don't usually admit to this except on pain of death, but he's my kid brother."

"Aren't you like one year older than him?"

"Who told you that? Oh well now you know too many secrets and I'm going to be forced to kill you. "

Veronica wrinkles her nose.

"Okay don't go all puppy dog eyes on me, if there's one thing I can't stand it's puppy dog eyes. I guess I can let you live, but I'll have to keep an eye on you."

"What makes you think I'd take orders?"

\---

The first time Veronica goes over to Lily's house Logan comes too. Jake picks all four of them up from school. Duncan rides shotgun and the two boys role their eyes at each other as Lily and Veronica giggle loudly with their heads pressed together.

When they arrive at the house Celeste has a tray of snacks ready for them, cheese, ham, biscuits and another tray with Strawberries, mangoes and Cherries. Lily and Veronica have to fight the boys for their fair share but in the end the few well places elbows that they manage prove unnecessary because Celeste seems to have an unending supply of snacks.

\--

The second time Veronica comes over, it's on a weekend and her Dad drives her. Jake Kane answers the door and invites them inside whilst somewhere in the house Lily shrieks and begins to sprint to the door. There's no Logan and no snacks, but Lily shows her how to curl her hair and Duncan has Soccer practice so nobody tells them to be quiet when they sing Spice Girls songs at the top of their lungs


	4. Duncan

Veronica was fourteen when she started to notice Duncan. Everybody always found it odd, that she was friends with his sister, who was not only in a different year level, but inhabited a different tax bracket and social sphere. People who met them later assumed that Logan and Duncan brought them together, those with good memories would know that's patently false.

It would be easy to say that they fell into a relationship purely because of Lily, that Veronica wanted to be closer to Lily and Duncan didn't want to piss off her best friend, but the truth is their relationship sprang into existence organically, and that Lily probably would have preferred to avoid the headache of it all. 

Duncan notices Veronica before she notices him. Later he would tell her that Logan mentioned something about her soccer uniform and once he started paying attention to her he couldn't stop.

\---

The actual getting together happens off the back of Veronica's mum forgetting to pick her up at school. It had happened before but no matter how many times it happens or how hard she tries not to Veronica always finds herself bawling in the school office.

Duncan finds her, even though it's 20 minutes after the bell and he should have been home already. She tries her hardest to stop sobbing but doesn't quite manage it.

He takes care of her, carefully doesn't mention her tears, offers for his dad to bring her home when the lady at the office says her Dad is still at work. Lily has already gone with one of her other friend's house for a sleep over so it's just Duncan that waits with her at her Dad's house.

When her Dad finally arrives to pick her up, she kisses him on the cheek.


	5. Boys

"He wouldn't do that Lily, you have to know he wouldn't."

"What, so you think I'm some kind of heartless slut, is that it?" Lily shouted, bright faced with fury.

"No, Lily you're my-, I wouldn't think something like that about you, I just think, friends are supposed to stop each other from doing something they'll regret, don't you think that you'll regret thi,s when it's all over and you see Logan's face, or Weevil's."  
"I didn't-, I don't want to hurt them Vee, I just, didn't think."

It had been exactly what she was expecting. Lily wasn't malicious or vindictive the way some of the 09ers were, if she were Veronica never would have been her friend. She did, however, suffer from a compulsive inability to take anything seriously. Veronica is pretty sure they both knew the thing with Logan would end in tears. Lily had tried to hold off, establish boundaries or whatever, but the truth was Logan's face would've done that hurt puppy thing either way.

However, this is definitely the greater of two evils and she doesn't want to be there when Lily tells him, or breaks up with him, or whatever it is she has to do to make this stop.

"You fucked up Lils, it happens, but this can't go on."

Lily's face had been blotchy and tear streaked as she buried her face in Veronica's shoulder. "I know, I've known for a while. Every time I think about it I get this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach."

The way Veronica had been feeling, she could definitely sympathize. "Do you know what you want to do?"

Lily blew out a breath, "Logan and I never should have happened, I don't really believe in monogamy Vee, we're supposed to change so much, how could one person ever be just right the whole time?"

Veronica thinks that her mother feels differently, that some part of her will always believe that Jake Kane is the only one right for her. She can appreciate the sentiment though, she's never really imagined forever with Duncan either.

"Monogamy isn't the same as forever Lils."  
"Tell that to Logan's face, honestly I was half expecting him to give me a promise ring or some shite. How did I manage the only romantic of the whole 09er species?"

Veronica had smiled at that. "Cause you're fabulous Lils."  
"You still believe that?"

"Course, fabulous person, fabulously destructive mistakes."  


"You know Veronica, sometimes I can't believe you hang out with us 09ers. You with your steadfast morals and decent father. I wonder how you stand us ."

Veronica shrugs, "we have more in common than you'd think Lils> I wouldn't let you drag me to all those parties if I didn't find them fun, I _like_ drama, keeps life interesting, I just prefer other people's to my own."

Then, because she couldn't help herself. "Why Weevil?"

Lily had smirked, "you wouldn't _believe_ what that boy can do with his tongue."

"Shit Lily, I didn't need that in my life."

"But I think you do, miss only been with my brother."

Suddenly repulsed at the notion, "don't you remember Lils, I'm still a virgin."

"No way!" I thought for sure you and Duncan broke up because the sex was bad and he has inadequacy issues."

Veronica splutters, "What?'

"I'm officially as confused as you as to why Donut is being such a Dick."

Veronica shrugs, "Maybe we just don't fit right anymore." it's not a total lie, a half-truth of sorts.

"Girl you need to get laid, hell I'd even send Dick your way if I didn't think he'd give your chlamydia or some shit."

Veronica wrinkled her nose, "I don't think our friendship would survive you convincing me to sleep with Dick."

"Right I forgot, friends are supposed to stop friends from making mistake, not gleefully laugh from the sidelines."

Veronica had punched Lily in the shoulder.

"Weevil is, he understands me. We understand each other really. He has his obligations I have my obligations, he doesn't want anything more from me than my presence in the moment. I can do monogamy in the moment, I think he's the same. Neither of us really want more than that."  


Veronica doesn't know if she believes that. The PCHers have always been more loyal than the 09ers. If she were being cliché she'd describe them as ride or die. Then again, they also killed those who crossed them, so maybe she's overestimating their attachment to each other. Something about Weevil , the way he always sticks to a promise, the way he doesn’t scare her the way the others do, makes her think he's capable of exactly the same hurt puppy look as Logan.

She doesn't voice these concerns, she thinks Lily is reluctant enough with one prospective kicked puppy in her future.

She thinks back, to what Lily said about Logan and promise rings. "You have to be gentle, with Logan."

Lily wrinkled her nose.

"I'm serious, he's all soft edges, he never stood a chance."  


Lily laid her head in Veronica's lap. "I know. That's what makes this so awful."


End file.
